Former MDC of Balachanda Sofior Rahman and 40 people from different political parties on Wednesday joined the opposition All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) to strengthen the party ahead of 2023 Assembly elections in the state.
Rahman is a former State President, Minority Morcha, BJP Meghalaya. He is also the former NPP leader from Rajabala.
Along with Rahman, Mostopha Kabir and Abdul Jolil Sheikh were also welcomed to the party by AITC leader and Rangsakona legislator Zenith Sangma at the TMC office in West Garo Hills.
Kabir is a social activist, and a former NPP member, who was also a 2021 independent MDC contestant from Balachanda while Sheikh is the president of Meghalaya Muslim Welfare Association and was a prominent NPP worker from Rajabala.
After inducting the new members into the party fold, Meghalaya TMC MLA from Rangsakona Zenith M Sangma launched a scathing attack on the NPP-led MDA government, and said, “NPP does not care about the people from the weaker section. People expected that an educated Chief Minister would actually work well. However, the Chief Minister is running the state like a profit-oriented company. There is no limit to scams and corruption in each and every department.”
Meghalaya TMC MLA Zenith Sangma further cornered the state on the abysmal condition of education in the state, and said, “The schools are running without teachers. They only listed 36 schools without teachers in the assembly but everyone knows that these numbers are far less from the reality. The current government is depriving the children of free and compulsory education.”
Sofior Rahman on joining the Meghalaya TMC said, “I’m glad to join Meghalaya TMC today. I want to point out that Chief Minister Conrad Sangma has been misleading people about the policies including the FOCUS. If 500 people live in one village, only 50 people get the money through NPP’s policies. The rest 450 people are deprived. This is utter misgovernance on the part of the state.”
“I have observed and I can tell you we have to elect Dr. Mukul Sangma as our Chief Minister. Otherwise, there will be no existence of Meghalaya or even Rajabala or Selsella or Phulbari. NPP cheats on the people who work for them day and night.” he added.
Mostopha Kabir after his induction, stated, “I want to convey to the younger generation that with NPP’s rule, the state of Meghalaya would never be able to function properly. NPP is a bad platform for the young generation as they give no value to working. The party runs by the policy of ‘use and throw’. NPP would only use people and then dismiss them. No one can run the state better than Dr. Mukul Sangma in terms of governance and administration.”
Abdul Jolil Sheikh, registering his protest against the NPP, stated, “I visited the Chief Minister multiple times regarding the deteriorating state of education and agriculture but the current situation shows that the present Chief Minister is a failure to provide any kind of development. Especially in healthcare, there is no doctor in Rajabala. I wonder why NPP is abstaining the people of Rajabala from availing bare-minimum health facility.”
Others present at the joining programme were TMC State Mahila President Selma D Shira, TMC State General Secretary Mukul Das.